ICC Wales

You can run a plenary for 1,500, an exhibition on 4,000 m² of pillar-free floor and a gala dinner for up to 3,080 on one site, a short drive from Junction 24 of the M4, with over 2,000 parking spaces and loading for four articulated lorries at once. ICC Wales opened in 2019 in the grounds of the Celtic Manor Resort on the outskirts of Newport and is part of The Celtic Collection.

Event spaces and capacities

You get ten bookable spaces, so a congress, its exhibition and its breakouts can all fit in one building. The Main Hall is the largest: 80 by 50 metres on the ground floor, carpeted, with a 9-metre ceiling and two vehicle entry points, divisible into up to six sections. The auditorium has fixed, tiered seating for 1,500 (738 lower tier, 762 upper), with power and USB charging at each seat and production loading at stage level. Upstairs, the 875 m² Woodland Suite divides into smaller sections, and Meeting Rooms 2, 3 and 4 combine to seat 860 theatre style. For networking, the venue lists an 800 m² atrium and a 2,500 m² outdoor plaza.

Capacities as published by the venue on its spaces page and in its capacity chart, checked 5 November 2026. A dash means the venue does not publish that layout. Main Hall banquet is tables of 10 with a small stage and cabaret is tables of 8 with a standard stage. Boardroom layouts are 21 in Meeting Room 5, 27 in Meeting Room 6, 21 in Meeting Room 7 and 20 in the Executive Boardroom, which the spaces page lists at up to 18.

Getting there and parking

Your delegates can drive straight in from the motorway: the venue sits just off Junction 24 of the M4 and says Cardiff is about 23 minutes away by car and Bristol about 40. It lists Newport railway station as 12 minutes away and London Paddington as 95 minutes away, and Great Western Railway offers conference delegates reduced fares, from £54 for a standard return from Paddington, on proof of attendance. Cardiff and Bristol airports are each about 40 minutes’ drive. A bus stop on Chepstow Road is a five-minute walk.

The venue has over 2,000 parking spaces, 700 of them underground on levels -1 and -2, with a 2.1 m height limit. The first hour is free, then it costs £7 up to 5 hours, £12 up to 8 hours, £16 up to 12 hours and £20 up to 24 hours. You cannot pre-book, Blue Badge holders also pay, and there are 20 Blue Badge bays and EV charging points. For build-up, four articulated lorries can unload into the Main Hall at the same time, crews for the auditorium and Main Hall have separate vehicle access, and up to 60 exhibitor vehicles can park behind the building.

Catering, AV and accommodation

You deal with one team for food, technology and rooms. The venue’s own culinary team does the catering, with sample menus published for buffets, plant-based food, dinners, street food and canapés. AV and IT are also handled in-house: the venue lists dual 10 Gbps internet lines, building-wide Wi-Fi, an indoor mobile network for Vodafone, EE and O2, and relay of content from one room to any breakout space. There are no bedrooms in the centre itself. The venue says over 1,000 hotel rooms are a few minutes away, including Tŷ Newport (146 bedrooms, a 10-minute walk) and Coldra Court (148 bedrooms, a 15-minute walk), and delegates can save up to 10% at Celtic Collection hotels with the code ICEVCW.

There are accessible toilets on every level, a Changing Places toilet and an infrared hearing system in the auditorium. It says it achieved ISO 14001 in 2026 as part of The Celtic Collection, after holding the Green Dragon Environmental Standard since it opened. It also hosted the Worldchefs Congress and Expo from 16 to 19 May 2026, which it says drew over 1,000 delegates from almost 100 countries.

What to ask before you book

• The Woodland Suite banquet figure is 560 on its room page but 660 on the March 2023 capacity chart, so ask which one applies to your table plan.
• If you split the Main Hall for a plenary and stands, ask which of the six sections you get and how the two vehicle entrances and four-lorry loading bay are shared during build-up.
• Parking cannot be pre-booked and is charged per stay, so ask whether delegate or exhibitor parking can be included in your contract for multi-day events.
• The auditorium has 25 wheelchair spaces on the lower tier and 6 on the upper tier, so confirm how many your delegates need and how they are allocated for a conference rather than a ticketed show.

Related on Events Review

• ICC Wales Main Hall for a conference with an exhibition
• Celtic Manor Resort, the conference hotel on the same estate
• Conference venues in Newport
• Conference venues in Cardiff
• Conference and exhibition venues across the UK
• Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff
• Utilita Arena Cardiff
• Cardiff City Hall
• What an ISO 14001 certificate tells an event buyer
• Association congresses are won by host teams, not venues alone
• Turn venue accessibility claims into a usable event plan

Sources: ICC Wales spaces, Main Hall, Auditorium, Woodland Suite, capacity chart, getting here, parking, catering, audio visual, accommodation, accessibility, sustainability and Worldchefs Congress and Expo 2026, checked 5 November 2026.